GIACINTO GIGANTE Naples, 1806 - 1876 Animated landscape Signed G Gigante bottom left Oil on canvas, 40X30.5 cm Provenance: Naples, private collection Giacinto Gigante is the most authentic, personal and complete representative of the Posillipo School. Ferdinand II of Bourbon chose him as master for his children, Francis II appointed him Court painter. Invited by the Russian Empress to follow her on a trip to Sicily, he composed a series of landscapes for her, and later painted two large pictures of Neapolitan views for the Emperor. At King Victor Emmanuel's invitation, he painted a masterful watercolour depicting the Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro animated by figures. He had almost invented a technique that he called 'a mezza-tempera', achieving astonishing results. His brushstrokes were given by the mixture of prodigious colours with which he succeeded in describing even the smallest details with great effects of light. In fact, he succeeded better than others in achieving that combination of colour and light that allowed him to describe the beautiful Neapolitan countryside and luminous seascapes.